F-35 no 'sack of potatoes,' says Tory MP

OTTAWA - The federal government is planning a campaign to "better inform" Canadians about the costs of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter stealth jets, according to one Conservative MP.

The upcoming campaign comes on the heels of a report from the Parliamentary Budget Office last week that estimated the 65 jets Canada is buying could cost $29.3 billion, not the $16 billion the government had projected.

But Tory MP Laurie Hawn, the parliamentary secretary to the minister of defence, said the government has "fundamental" problems with the PBO's methodology.

One of those problems is that the PBO's estimate of the plane's cost is based on historical data of cost-per-weight of other military aircraft.

"We're not buying a sack of potatoes here. We're buying a high-tech piece of gear," Hawn said. "That (methodology) may work well from a purely statistician, bean-counter perspective, but we don't think it reflects the real-world actual costs of technology, materials or components going into the airplane.

"That's where we are coming up with our numbers, and we're confident in them," he added.

According to the government, each F-35 will cost between $70 and $75 million, with annual service costs for the entire fleet sitting between $250 to $300 million.

Critics have blasted the government for buying the planes in a sole-sourced deal, and the Liberals have vowed, if elected, to cancel the purchase.